Page 17 of The Last Bachelor Dragon (Mysteries of Dragon’s Island #8)
CHAPTER 16
***MAX***
M ax walked along the trail to Nora’s cabin, worried that her time with the other women hadn’t gone well and that she was hiding from him because she was afraid that he’d be disappointed. As important as it was to him that she liked his friend’s wives, they'd figure it out if it wasn’t meant to be. She was more important to him than anyone. When he walked up to the cabin, Nora was sitting on the porch in the rocking chair, her feet up on the railing, eyes closed, and he wondered if she was asleep.
She opened her eyes and looked over at him when he put his foot on the first step of the porch. “I could feel you coming,” she said, smiling at him. “It’s a strange feeling, but I think I like it.”
“What are you doing sitting here all by yourself?” he asked, coming up the steps and giving her a kiss before sitting down. “I thought you’d all be sitting at Marie’s gossiping.”
“We weren’t gossiping,” she said, giving him a dirty look. “The girls were just catching me up on everything that’s happened. I’m still trying to make it all seem real, and I just needed a few minutes of quiet to think.”
“Am I intruding?” he said, starting to get up. “I could leave you alone for a while.”
Nora put her hand on his arm. “Don’t go, I want you to stay,” she said, smiling at him. “I always feel better when I’m with you, steadier somehow.”
“It’s the bond. We’re stronger when we’re together,” he said, relaxing back in the chair. “Speaking of bonds, we should really talk about the wedding. I was thinking tomorrow at sunset would be perfect. What do you think?”
“What do I think?” she asked, grinning at him. “I bet there’s not a woman in the world who wouldn’t love to get married at sunset in front of a waterfall.”
“So, I take it that’s a yes,” he said, returning her grin. “Now come over here so we can celebrate.”
Their celebration had to be moved into the cabin only a few minutes later, and it was dinner time before they emerged again. Max was carrying Nora’s few belongings as they made their way to his cabin. There didn’t seem to be any reason for Nora not to move in right away; they’d be married the next day, and he didn’t want to be separated from her for even a night.
He was smiling as they walked up to his cabin. “I forgot to tell you that I have a little surprise for you,” he said, opening the door and letting her go in first. “It’s in the bedroom at the end of the hallway--our bedroom.”
She smiled up at him. “I like the sound of that,” she said. “But you didn’t have to get me anything.”
“Get used to it, I like to spoil the people I care about,” he said, then gave her a gentle push toward the hallway. “Go on, go look.”
Nora didn’t make it past the door before she stopped and gasped, then turned to look at him over her shoulder. “Max, this can’t all be for me,” she said. “It’s too much, I don’t need all this.”
“You don’t have to keep it all,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “But you might change your mind when you see what’s in those boxes.”
He watched amused as Nora carefully opened one package after another, sighing with each new discovery, before slipping the lid back on. It amazed him that someone who came from so much money was so unspoiled, and when Nora rushed over to him and gave him a grateful hug, he was the one thanking the universe for giving him such a special woman.
“I shouldn’t keep it all, but I’m going to,” she said, looking up at him with a smile. “But no more gifts; this was more than enough.”
“Too late,” he said. “I have a couple more things for you.”
This time when she opened the boxes, a blush slowly spread up her cheeks when she saw the lacy lingerie under the tissue paper. “I want you to be well dressed both in public and in bed,” he said, grinning at her. “Not that any of those will last long once you put it on.”
Nora studied him for a second. “Max St. Clair, this wasn’t a gift for me,” she said, trying to look angry. “You bought all this for yourself.”
He laughed, then swept her back into his arms. “Guilty,” he said, then lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her until they were both breathless. “Now that we’ve cleared that up, we should get ready. We’re supposed to meet everyone in the village for dinner in an hour.”
“It’s going to take me that long to figure out what to wear,” she said. “And I need a shower if I’m going out in public.”
An hour later, they were headed to the village. Nora looked radiant in a new outfit, her feet clad in a dainty pair of sandals. “You look beautiful,” he said, taking her hand. “I’m the luckiest man in the world, and you didn’t even keep me waiting.”
She laughed. “Well, it’s early in the relationship yet,” she said. “I don’t want to scare you off.”
“Sweetheart, nothing you could do would scare me off,” he said. “You’re perfect in my eyes and always will be.”
“If you keep talking like that, we’ll never make it to dinner,” Nora said, her eyes filling with desire. “So, you’d better behave yourself.”
“As tempting as that offer is, we have work to do tonight after dinner,” he said with a groan. “But I’m looking forward to having you naked in my bed as soon as we’re done.”
***Nora***
Dinner was full of fun and laughter, but all too soon their plates were empty, the babies were sound asleep in their mother’s laps, and little Theo had completely run out of steam. “We should get the kids to bed,” Kira said, shifting Kiley in her arms. “It’s been a big day for them.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind taking Jordan all night?” Keith asked. “We could pick him up when I get back.”
“It’s no trouble, the kids love each other, and we had a second crib delivered today,” Kira said, handing the baby over to Simon. “No sense in waking him up in the middle of the night.”
“Their first sleepover,” Stella said, with a sigh. “They grow up so fast.”
“I’ll take Jordan,” Kira said, taking the sleeping baby out of Stella’s arms. “Don’t worry, we’ll be just fine. You all just keep yourselves safe and don’t worry about us.”
Wren got to her feet. “I think it’s time Theo got to bed as well,” she said, ruffling her son’s hair. “What do you say, little man? Off to bed with you too.”
“Ahh, Mom, it’s just getting good,” Theo whined. “I don’t want to miss all the cool stuff.”
“It’s not going to be that exciting, just a bunch of waiting,” Kennedy said. “But if you’re a good boy and go to bed, I’ll show you everything tomorrow, I promise.”
“Really?” Theo asked, brightening instantly. “That would be so cool.”
“You’d better get to bed so you’re fresh and full of energy in the morning,” Felicity said. “It’s going to be fun having you stay with us, and Eden is going to come keep us company too.”
When the children were gone, the mood shifted instantly. “Okay, everyone, you all know your roles, but let’s go over them one more time,” Harrison said. “Blake and Wren, you’re in the first boat. You’ll be our eyes and ears on the outside. Keith and I will be in the second boat. We’ll leave it anchored offshore and swim to the island, hopefully undetected, but if not, that's where the rest of you come in. If anything goes sideways, it’s going to be up to Archie, Theo, Cameron, and Max to give us the opening we need to escape.”
There were nods of agreement all around, “Kennedy, you’ve got the computer on this end of things, you’ll know when we’ve planted the bugs and the tracking devices,” Harrison continued. “Start recording right away, we might get something useful tonight. The rest of you, well, think good thoughts.”
They all laughed. “Okay, let’s do this,” Keith said. “I’m in the mood for a good long swim.”
After kissing their wives goodbye, the other men headed for the marina, but Max held back and pulled Nora into the shadows. “This is going to take a couple of hours, but when I get back I was thinking you could put on that little red outfit,” he said, grinning at her. “I’ve been thinking about it since I saw you pull it out of the box.”
“Max, I thought you needed to tell me something important,” she said, nudging him in the ribs. “This is serious, something could go wrong…”
His mouth silenced the rest of her protests and when he finally walked away, she was wobbly-legged and thinking about what was going to happen later that night. When she joined Kennedy, Stella, and Juliet a few minutes later, they all started laughing, and she knew that her cheeks were bright pink.
“Don’t worry, Harrison can still make me blush with just one look,” Juliet said. “We’ll try not to tease you too much.”
As they were walking toward the community center, they passed the little café, and the smell of coffee and something sweet came wafting to them in the breeze. “Oh, I would give anything for a cup of real coffee,” Stella said. “It’s the only thing I really miss.”
“I’ve been cheating and having half a cup every once in a while,” Juliet said. “But I should probably stop.”
“There is some good decaf coffee out there if you look hard enough,” Kennedy said. “I’ll send you a link. I thought I sent it to everyone.”
So much had happened, there had been so many things in her brain that Nora suddenly realized she’d missed something. “Wait, hold on a second,” she said. “Are you all pregnant?”
There was a silent pause as the three other women looked at each other. “Every single one of us,” Kennedy said. “It seems to be a side effect of bonding with a shifter. I guess Max didn’t tell you.”
Shocked, she just stood there, her mouth hanging open, then looked at the three other women. “He forgot to mention that little tidbit,” she said. “Just another surprise I wasn’t expecting.”
“Let me guess, he was more worried about explaining bonding to you,” Juliet said, rolling her eyes. “If you weren’t the last one, I’d have a talk with them, but….”
Juliet must have seen the look on Nora’s face because her words died away. “But it might not happen to you,” Stella quickly said. “You might be different.”
She gave herself a second to think about becoming a mother, a moment to think about having Max’s baby, and felt warmth spreading through her. “It’s a little late to start worrying about it now,” she said, a smile on her face. “But you can bet Max and I will be having a long talk when this Carlos stuff is over.”
Stella put her arm around her. “Just think, we could all have babies together,” she said. “We’ll all have the best support system ever.”
“You got that right,” Juliet said, hugging her from the other side.